DES MOINES, Iowa, July 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- Operation Rescue has filed a formal request with Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller for a state audit of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, (PPH).

A Governmental Accounting Office report issued in Washington, DC, on May 28, 2010, revealed that $2.3 billion dollars in taxpayer money has been doled out to Planned Parenthood organizations nationwide from 2002-2008, yet Planned Parenthood's own financial reports show that only $657.1 million has been spent. That leaves $1.8 billion dollars in tax funds with unaccounted for.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, based in Des Moines, Iowa, has been the recipient of Title X funds as well as money from other federal programs. Thousands of tax dollars have been disbursed directly to PPH through the Iowa Attorney General's office. It is likely that some of the missing $1.8 billion has made its way to Iowa.

"We believe the public has a right to know where their tax money is going. It is time that Planned Parenthood gives an account for the money that it has siphoned from hard-working taxpayers," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

"We are especially concerned about possible misappropriation of funds after discovering that PPH is overbilling insurance companies for their remote-controlled abortion pill distribution scheme, known as telemed abortions."

Evidence of overbilling by a number of Planned Parenthood affiliates has surfaced in California, where a state audit discovered that Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties had overbilled the state $5,213,645.92 for birth control pills alone. A Federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Chief Financial Officer of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles revealed that the state of California was overbilled for a total of $180 million by Planned Parenthood affiliates in that state.

"There is enough history of Planned Parenthood bilking taxpayers and other financial improprieties to justify this request for an audit of PPH," said Newman.

Operation Rescue released an investigative report on PPH's telemed abortion scheme in March, 2010, then filed a complaint concerning its dangers with the Iowa Board of Medicine the following month. That investigation is ongoing.

OR also filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General's office requesting a criminal investigation telemed abortions. Miller indicated that his office was unlikely to investigate. Operation Rescue then discovered connections between Miller and PPH, including a PPH abortionist who sits on one of Miller's advisory boards. In addition, Gov. Chet Culver, recently met with PPH officials and received their endorsement of his re-election campaign.

"In light of Miller's and Culver's connections with PPH, we are asking for an independent audit to be conducted by someone not associated, either personally or politically, with Miller or Culver," said Newman. "That is the only way the public can be assured of an honest accounting."

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates.